Arkansas Tech University has made an "initial" no-refunds decision for student housing as campus residences will close April 3 for all except those in need, Robin Bowen, the university's president, said Saturday in a statement.
"There were many reasons for this initial decision. First, student housing contracts at ATU include a no refunds due to emergencies clause. There are also many unanswered questions about the possible negative effects on students and staff if the university issues housing refunds," Bowen said.
Instruction has moved online in response to the coronavirus outbreak, with Arkansas Tech's spring semester scheduled to end May 5.
Among the state's largest public universities, only Arkansas Tech has publicly announced an intention not to give reimbursements for housing costs associated with any residence closures.
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The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville -- also is closing dorms to most students April 3 -- has said it is "awaiting guidance from the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees and the University of Arkansas System regarding any potential reimbursements."
Bowen in her statement Saturday said "we will reach a resolution that serves our students and their families to the greatest extent possible while ensuring the financial stability of the university."
An Arkansas Tech spokesman, Sam Strasner, said in an email Saturday afternoon that the decision on refunds was still "under review."
On Saturday evening, the university announced that its board of trustees would meet today by phone to discuss "prorated" credits and refunds.
A semester of Arkansas Tech housing costs an estimated $2,260 and on-campus meals roughly $1,875, according to the school's website, and the preliminary no-refunds decision also would apply to meal plans, Strasner said.
The university in the fall enrolled about 9,700 students on its Russellville campus, and by spring had 2,155 students in campus housing, Strasner said. The university has 13 student residences, with the largest, Nutt Residence Hall, having a capacity of 462 students, he said.
Budget documents submitted to the state Division of Higher Education list Arkansas Tech University's Russellville campus as having a total operating budget of about $162.7 million, including about $10.3 million in student housing revenue and about $7.4 million in food service revenue.
Both housing and food service are considered auxiliary enterprises for Arkansas Tech. They are classified for budget purposes as activities that are substantially self-supporting and that provide services to the university community, according to a recent financial statement for the university.
Arkansas Tech, like other colleges in the state, moved to suspend in-person classes in the days after the March 11 announcement of the state's first covid-19 case, and only 970 students of the total in campus housing said they would continue living on campus with the school's move to online instruction, Strasner said.
The school provided a copy of its student housing contract, which states the school "may terminate this contract, with no refund of room and board charges, if one of the following occurs," going on to list nine scenarios -- most dealing with student conduct or lack of enrollment -- that also includes "an emergency or casualty."
By Saturday evening, more than 1,350 people had signed an online petition asking Arkansas Tech to provide a half-semester refund on housing and meal plans.
"That is a full month[s] worth of money paying for a room that is not being occupied," Lauryn Doublet, the Arkansas Tech student who started the petition, said in a written message to the Democrat-Gazette, adding that she would be OK with less than a half-semester refund.
But "if we're currently not living on campus why pay for a full term lease?" she said.
Doublet, a hospitality major, said she had been living on campus but moved out with the switch to online classes. She said she will return to finish packing up her things, and said she agreed with the decision to generally close campus housing April 3.
Arkansas Tech on Friday publicly announced campus housing and dining services would remain open "for students who need them." A statement on its website says "special circumstances" for remaining on campus include "personal safety, access to internet, no other available housing, academic distress or other legitimate reasons."
Earlier in the week, Arkansas Tech described a plummeting population in campus housing, down to nearly 600 students from a "regular occupancy" of 2,700. Delton Gordon, Arkansas Tech's associate dean for residence life, in a statement Monday said that students who remained in campus housing cited job responsibilities and a need for internet access in electing to stay.
Bowen, in her statement Saturday, said the April 3 closing date was also announced Friday, and that the announcement "included preliminary information that ATU would not be able to provide housing refunds for the percentage of the spring semester that is remaining."
The state's other large public schools, including the University of Central Arkansas and Arkansas State University, have not made announcements regarding closures of their campus housing. The schools, like Arkansas Tech and also UA, are on spring break this week.
Metro on 03/22/2020
2020-03-22 09:03:52Z
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2020/mar/22/initial-tech-decision-no-housing-refund/
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